Daily monitor

According to a company representative, Kryukiv Railcar [KVBZ UZ, BUY] intends to launch maintenance centers for freight and passenger railcars in Kyiv and Kharkiv.

After a number of hostile takeover attempts in recent years, the Borshahivskiy Chemical Pharmaceutical Plant (BCPP) is planning to sell its factory. BCPP is the number one Ukrainian producer in terms of GMP compliance.

On the tail of price hikes for fixed line telephone services in Ukraine, which Sokrat wrote about in its news coverage earlier this week, Ukrtelecom [UTEL UZ, U/R] has announced that it will also be increasing monthly fees for individual subscribers who receive radio broadcasts.

Ukrros, a Ukrainian sugar producer, released an official press release on Tuesday, in which it announced plans to expand its share on the domestic market by 10 pp to 20%.

Yesterday the Ukrproduct Group, an independent Ukrainian dairy producer, released its unaudited 1H08 financial results. According to this information, the company’s net revenue increased by 7.7% YoY to GBP 23.6 mln, EBITDA lost 18.6% YoY and amounted to GBP 2.02 mln, and net income fell by 26.8% YoY to reach GBP 1.02 mln.

Ukrtelecom [UTEL UZ, U/R] has officially announced that it does not intend to re-examine its plans for the development of mobile phone network connection and broad-band Internet access. The question arose in connection with the crisis on the loan market, the response for which was reported by the news agency Interfax-Ukraine.

Domestic feed wheat prices slipped further to reach USD 123.7 per mt this week, as reported by the publication “Delo”. Last week, feed wheat prices bounced between USD 134 and USD 144.3 per mt, which is 17-26% lower than the minimal price set by the government.

During the period January-September, 2008, the Kremenchuk Road Machine Plant, otherwise known as the Joint Stock Company Kredmash, increased its output of asphalt mixing machines by 40% YoY, reaching a total of 92 units. In all, during 2Q08, the plant produced 30 asphalt mixing machines and soil mixing plants. The company plans to achieve a production of more than 100 asphalt mixing machines by the year end. The Russian Federation remains the largest consumer of Kredmash’s products.

Ukrtelecom [UTEL UZ, U/R] is set to increase its profits, with the recent announcement by the National Communication Regulation Commission (NCRC) that it will be increasing tariffs for the company’s fixed line telephone services by 20%. The new tariffs will take effect as of October 1, 2008.

Astarta [AST PW, BUY] has signed an agreement with Coca-Cola Beverages Ukraine to supply the company with sugar for the next three years.